1893_11-16-Nov 5001-HKG copy.jpg

Helen King to Alice Austen Correspondence, 1893

PI

Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/9/2025, 9:45:57 PM | Created: 12/9/2025, 7:33:18 PM

Added description

Description

Helen King to Alice Austen Correspondence, November 1893

Overview

This collection comprises five digitized images of handwritten letters written by Helen King to Elizabeth Alice Austen in November 1893. The letters were sent from Flushing, New York, and received at Clifton, Staten Island. Each image contains a full copy of the same letter, rendered in high‑resolution JPEG and accompanied by OCR text. The material is part of the Alice Austen House Museum’s Austen Family Papers, which cover 1883‑1898.

Background

Helen King was a close friend of Alice Austen, a pioneering photographer of Staten Island. The correspondence reflects the social milieu of late‑Victorian New York, illustrating the networks of friends, family, and business associates that surrounded Austen. The letters were captured by the museum’s digitization project and are catalogued in the Pinax system under the title “Helen King to Alice Austen Correspondence, 1893.”

Contents

  • Five scanned images (189311‑16‑Nov 5001‑HKG copy.jpg through 189311ish‑1007‑HKG copy.jpg) of a single handwritten letter.
  • OCR‑derived text that reproduces the letter’s content, including references to social events, health concerns, and the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
  • Metadata (creator, date, place, subjects) indicating the letter’s Victorian‑era themes of social life, family relationships, and medical issues (morphine).

The letter itself expresses Helen’s eagerness to visit Alice, mentions a winter party, and recounts her health struggles, offering a personal glimpse into the daily concerns of a woman in the 1890s.

Scope

The collection is limited to a single letter written in November 1893, providing a focused snapshot of Alice Austen’s personal network. It covers the geographic area of Flushing and Clifton, New York, and touches on broader cultural events such as the World’s Columbian Exposition. The material is in English and is accessible through the museum’s digital portal, with no additional items or related correspondence included in this specific collection.

Raw Cheimarros Data

@alice_austen:person {full_name: "Elizabeth Alice Austen", birth: @date_1866, death: @date_1952, occupation: "photographer", location: @staten_island}

@helen_king:person {full_name: "Helen King", relation: "correspondent", location: @flushing}

@flushing:place {state: @new_york, country: @united_states}

@clifton:place {city: "Staten Island", state: @new_york, country: @united_states}

@worlds_columbian_exposition:event {year: @date_1893, description: "World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago"}

@morphine:concept {type: "opioid", usage: "medical"}

@social_life:concept {description: "Victorian-era social activities"}

@helen_king_to_alice_austen_correspondence:document {description: "Collection of letters from Helen King to Alice Austen in November 1893", when: @date_1893_11, place: [@flushing, @clifton]}

@letter_1893_11_16:document {title: "Letter from Helen King to Alice Austen", when: @date_1893_11_16, from: @helen_king, to: @alice_austen, location: @clifton, content_theme: ["social life", "health", "World's Columbian Exposition"]}

@pinax_metadata:file {title: "Helen King to Alice Austen Correspondence, 1893", creator: @helen_king, institution: "Alice Austen House", created: @date_1893_11, subjects: ["Correspondence","Personal letters","Social life","Victorian era","Family relationships","Health","World's Columbian Exposition"]}

@file_pinax -> documents -> @helen_king_to_alice_austen_correspondence

@helen_king -> wrote -> @letter_1893_11_16

@letter_1893_11_16 -> mentions -> @worlds_columbian_exposition

@letter_1893_11_16 -> discusses -> @morphine {context: "health"}

@letter_1893_11_16 -> covers -> @social_life

@letter_1893_11_16 -> sent from -> @flushing

@letter_1893_11_16 -> sent to -> @alice_austen

@letter_1893_11_16 -> received at -> @clifton

@file_1893_11_16_nov_5001_hkg_copy_jpg:file {type: "image"} 

@file_1893_11_16_nov_5002_hkg_copy_jpg:file {type: "image"} 

@file_1893_11_16_nov_5003_hkg_copy_jpg:file {type: "image"} 

@file_1893_11ish_1006_hkg_copy_jpg:file {type: "image"} 

@file_1893_11ish_1007_hkg_copy_jpg:file {type: "image"} 

@file_1893_11_16_nov_5001_hkg_copy_jpg -> contains -> @letter_1893_11_16

@file_1893_11_16_nov_5002_hkg_copy_jpg -> contains -> @letter_1893_11_16

@file_1893_11_16_nov_5003_hkg_copy_jpg -> contains -> @letter_1893_11_16

@file_1893_11ish_1006_hkg_copy_jpg -> contains -> @letter_1893_11_16

@file_1893_11ish_1007_hkg_copy_jpg -> contains -> @letter_1893_11_16

Metadata

Files (5)

1893_11-16-Nov 5001-HKG copy.jpgJPEG
332.91 KB
OCR Text

FLUSHING NOV 16 7AM 1893 N.Y. Miss E. Alice Austin Clifton Staten Island New York

1893_11-16-Nov 5002-HKG copy.jpgJPEG
1.2 MB
OCR Text

Wednesday Dear Mrs. Austen, I received your note several days ago—but delayed answering hoping I would be able to select a night when I could surely get down to see you—I have

1893_11-16-Nov 5003-HKG copy.jpgJPEG
1.3 MB
OCR Text

You are so encouraged, I can probably come down. I am writing in great haste as I am just about going out to a winter party and I ask you to let me know when or this evening when you will be at home. The week next season has opened here. I have been in such a mad love since the first of September that I haven't had any pleasure in life. I have so many things to tell you about that I am afraid I shall never catch up. So far as I now know, I have nothing at all on for next week and any night that

1893_11ish-1006-HKG copy.jpgJPEG
1.28 MB
OCR Text

To be seen & and which I heard in keeping my note to the Grindstone so that I never know when I shall have a free evening I want to see you.—Then our lots of things to free your week—(Thursday?) I will come down if I mean, I have begun to gather— Austria— Of course you have never approached the infirm regions nor even will, so it is impossible that you should be able to realize the condition I have been in for the last three months. It was uncertain whether I should go to the fair, up to three o'clock on the day we want—It was only two or three letters kept me each hour from interruptions & distractions by this barely coming past hoping to see you. Yours Helen Mr.

1893_11ish-1007-HKG copy.jpgJPEG
1.19 MB
OCR Text

had succumbed to morphine, my brain has been troubling heavily and I have been in from most of the time, during October. The thing I know for sure is that it was only because I have not been to my labours have not been worrying about pecuniary as they have been and continuous in charges have occurred which alter the outlook somewhat (whether for better or worse remains at that time that I found I could tear myself away at six and then I simply had to drop everything & run. I was gone from Tuesday night to Monday morning and had a fine time, but returned to find things here worse than when I went away and from that moment up to now I have hardly had a real peaceful moment, even when my other senses

Version History (4 versions)

  • ✓ v4 (current) · 12/9/2025, 9:45:57 PM
    "Added description"
  • v3 · 12/9/2025, 8:48:08 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v2 · 12/9/2025, 7:51:32 PM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v1 · 12/9/2025, 7:33:18 PM · View this version
    "Reorganization group: Helen_King_Correspondence"

Parent

01KC29F9YB806CTR8NHCPQ3S6D

No children (leaf entity)